Young-Ja Park 2020-21 Chamber Music Award Winners
Congratulations to the inaugural winners of the Young-Ja Park Chamber Music Award - Joel Robertson, clarinet, Elizabeth van’t Voort, viola, and Leonardi Joewono, piano.
The Young-Ja Park Chamber Music Award is awarded annually to full-time Don Wright Faculty of Music graduate and/or undergraduate students performing in a chamber music group. The winners are “recognized as members of the most promising chamber music group, and exemplify excellence in performance and collaborative work” throughout the fall term.
This award was established with a generous gift from Mr. Ok-Kyu Park in memory of his wife, Young-Ja Park. As an immigrant from South Korea, Mrs. Park prioritized musical education for her family and was a driving force in inspiring such dedication to classical music within the London community. Though she was never formally trained, Mrs. Park had an inherent love of classical music, and especially enjoyed the interactive spirit of chamber music. The award was set up by members of the family.
The competition, which was judged chamber music faculty coordinators Jana Starling and Thomas Wiebe, saw all nine competing groups give a high standard of performance. In the November 2020 auditions, the award-winning chamber music group played Schumann’s Märchenerzählungen with particular polish, expression, and the kind of communication between players which is the hallmark of a good chamber music performance. The group was coached by faculty member Marie Johnson.
Please enjoy the group’s winners’ recital, recorded on February 24, 2021, in von Kuster Hall. Except for faculty required to attend as part of curriculum delivery, audience members were not permitted to attend due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Download program (PDF)
Related links
Chamber Music at Western University
Student Performance Competitions at the Don Wright Faculty of Music
